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ISSUE 5 | May 2017

Kamloops

HEIDI COLEMAN:

“

The Language of

Health

Care” p.8

VENTURE KAMLOOPS’ ECONOMIC INDICATORS

JUST THE FIGURES p.14

Business

Excellence Awards COMING IN OCTOBER p.16

TALKING BUSINESS AT THE

Farmers’ Market p.18

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The language of health care A Boutique Men’s Shop with Vintage Service In this current day, a man’s closet should always be evolving. Every piece of clothing in your wardrobe should serve a purpose in your daily life. Suits should be tailored to fit you perfectly and give you that feeling of pride and confidence throughout your day. Casual clothing should be comfortable enough to ease in to, but still look great into the evening. A wardrobe doesn’t have to be an expansive collection of clothing that spans decades. Instead, it should be clean, concise and practical. We’re maintaining our traditional focus on service and quality while continually adding some exciting accessories one enjoys discovering in a boutique men’s shop.

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COVER: Royal Inland Hospital Foundation CEO Heidi Coleman talks about what brought her to Kamloops from Montreal and her passion for doing what she does. “Access to health care is my raison d’être,” she says. “I want better access for people.”

Kelly HALL Publisher

Christopher FOULDS Editor

Lee MALBEUF Production Manager

Talk Business is published twice per year by Kamloops This Week. No part of this supplement may be reproduced without the publisher’s written permission. Unsolicited materials will not be returned. The publisher assumes no responsibility for editorial information. Contact Christopher Foulds, publication editor.

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MAY 2017

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DOWNTOWN

DETERMINATION W By Andrea Klassen

(ABOVE) MICHAEL AND JENNY O’BRIEN OF 4CATS ARTS STUDIO | (BELOW) CASEY VANDONGEN (TOP CENTRE) OF TRI-CITY CONTRACTING | PHOTO: DAVE EAGLES

hen Tri-City Contracting owner Casey VanDongen decided it was time to move his business out of his home in 1981, he headed downtown and stayed put. Today, Tri-City is still housed in the same building it moved into in the 1980s, though along the way VanDongen purchased it, renovated it and added another floor. Owners of 4Cats Art Studio Michael and Jenny O’Brien — better known to the public as Spikey Mike and Messy Jenny — have a similar story. While they’ve moved locations, going from Seymour Street to Victoria Street in their five years of operation, the O’Briens said they’ve never wanted to be anywhere but downtown. “We believe in what downtown can be and what people want it to be, which is a bright, thriving place for people to work and live and eat and hang out and enjoy and do more than just shop,” said Mike. “I’ve always been a believer in the downtown, though it seems to be an uphill battle,” said VanDongen. “I think we’re doing fairly good in Kamloops, but we could do better.” Dedication to the downtown netted both companies a 2017 Downtown Leadership Award from the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association. The award, which is given out by the KCBIA’s board of directors, is intended to recognize organizations that make the city’s core more vibrant and liveable, said KCBIA general manager Gay Pooler. “Casey and 4Cats, they’re quite different,” said Pooler. “With Michael and Jennifer it’s really around the retail side and how they’ve brought a high profile to everything they do downtown and how they give back to the community.” Pooler said she sees the O’Briens as having “innovative leadership.” To Mike and Jenny, that translates into having a unique business concept that draws people to the downtown for reasons other than shopping, and hours of operation that run seven days a week and late into the evening.

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MAY 2017

While Mike estimates about 45 business are open downtown outside of weekday daytime hours, he said it’s difficult for visitors to pick them out in a street filled with closed signs. ’“I think it needs more owners that are willing to put the chicken before the egg and be out there and open and see what happens,” said Jenny. “You can’t create a hub of activity if you send everybody somewhere else. You have to be open in order to attract people.” VanDongen has volunteered downtown in a number of capacities — you may recognize him as the man in the red suit during the annual Santa Claus Parade, for one. But Pooler said it’s his work in development of the core that earned him the hardware. “He’s just been such a driving force behind development downtown and working on improving so many things,” she said, pointing to VanDongen’s transformation of Tri City’s headquarters as one example. “He took that building and made it into a really nice building from what it was. He spent a lot of time, money and made an investment in improving downtown and helped to attract other developers downtown.” VanDongen, who was also involved in a recent affordable housing development with the Kamloops United Church, said he has more development plans in the works for downtown. While some negotiations are too new to share details, VanDongen said he plans to reactivate a proposal to build a tower at 131 Victoria St. The 77-unit building was first proposed in 2015, but city staff was concerned the project was too dense for the lot and Kamloops city council asked him to get his neighbours to commit to keeping developments on their lots to three stories before he could move ahead. VanDongen said those negotiations have been ongoing since, but recently stalled for good. He’s hoping to return to council and see what other options he has for moving the project forward.

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SPEAKING THE

LANGUAGE OF

HEALTH CARE By Dale Bass

Meet Royal Inland Hospital Foundation CEO Heidi Coleman PHOTO: DAVE EAGLES

t was the hiring of 60 language police in Quebec that led Heidi Coleman to Kamloops. It is Royal Inland Hospital — the people there, the health care it provides, the future it faces — that keeps her here. And, faced with the challenge of raising $20 million in coming years for a new patient-care tower, Coleman is not fazed at all. It will happen simply because it has to happen. “Access to health care is my raison d’être,” the CEO of the RIH Foundation said. “When time is ticking and you are waiting for care, it’s terrible. It lowers us. I want better access for people.” Fundraising wasn’t her original career path. Coleman, born in Montreal, has degrees in art history and teaching. She started an alternative high school in her home city

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MAY 2017

for students in crisis, worked at a homeless shelter and eventually found herself working for hospitals in Montreal as a fundraiser. When the provincial government announced it had hired the new contingent of police whose job is to ensure Quebec’s legislation mandating French as the official language, Coleman and her husband, Glenn Hilke, had had enough. “I said to Glen — he was already looking for a different lifestyle, to leave Quebec — that they’re not investing in education or health care, so let’s look somewhere else,” Coleman said. The Royal Inland Hospital Foundation was looking for a new CEO and came calling, lured by Coleman’s background in raising money for health-care services. A few Skype conversations followed and Coleman came west to check out Kamloops.

“It rained the whole time we were here, but it didn’t matter,” she said. “What I felt was the people. The city was beautiful, but it was the people.” This coming August, Coleman will mark five years at the foundation’s helm. During that time, the organization has raised almost $16 million, money that has been used to provide the simplest of medical equipment right through to the multi-million-dollar, multi-storey clinical-services building that now occupies what was once the front lawn of the hospital. Coleman doesn’t take credit for it, pointing to doctors as the best fundraisers. “If I can get a Kamloopsian, anyone really, and a doctor in the same room and the doctor talking about what they’re doing and how buying this piece of equipment or adding to this program would make the work they do better for people, that person puts their hand in their pocket,” Coleman said. For example, a Kamloops surgeon who operates on many people with breast cancer talked about how an ultrasound machine in the operating room — a $50,000 purchase — would make it so much easier for her to cut into her patient and remove the tumour and any surrounding tissue that had to come out. Three pharmacists got together to donate the money for the machine. A visitor from Seattle who was injured skiing at Sun Peaks and needed a hip replacement was so impressed with the health care she received that she donated money for scholarships and educational programs at the hospital. “When doctors ask for things, they’re not asking because their coffee machine in their office isn’t a Keurig,” Coleman said. “They’re asking for things for their patients.” To raise the $20 million, Coleman is planning a road trip. She will be taking along some of her foundation colleagues, hopefully a doctor or two and a nurse, and the group will head out into the region the hospital serves. They will make their pitch on why RIH needs to move forward with the patient-care tower, the second of three priorities in the hospital’s strategic plan. The clinical-services building was the first and the third is a long-range plan to demolish the Alumnae Tower behind the hospital and replace it with something new with patient-care rooms.

CONTINUES ON PAGE 10

STOLLERY STEPS UP FOR PATIENT CARE By Dale Bass

When a patient not quite ready to go home has to be moved out of Kelowna General Hospital, there are two options — the hospitals in Vernon and Penticton. In Kamloops, however, there is no similar option. “You’re not going home until you can go home to your house,” said Heidi Coleman CEO of the Royal Inland Hospital Foundation. “And that means we’re holding patients because we can’t decant them somewhere else.” The only other option is to be moved into Ponderosa Lodge, which is next to RIH. Ponderosa is a 42-year-old building that has small rooms on three floors to provide various short-term lodging for which patients must pay a daily $32 fee for meals and care. It’s one of the reasons why the Stollery Foundation has given Coleman’s office $150,000 over two years to devise ways to help patients successfully return home after rehabilitating at Ponderosa. There are plenty of ways the money could be used, Coleman said, and the RIH Foundation is starting to take a look at them. For example, a solution could be something as simple as helping a patient who requires accessibility tools to be able to return home. It’s just one of many new ventures happening in the city to help ease the strain on the health-care system. Two new outpatient clinics are also being created in RIH’s clinical-services building. The clinical-services building will be home to a rapid-access cardiac examination clinic that will provide ongoing support and medical advice, stress and echocardiogram tests and other services to patients with chronic cardiac conditions. It will also have a rapid-access internal medicine clinic that will provide services to patients with chronic illnesses as outpatients rather than seeing them come into the emergency department for treatment of symptoms. “People will avoid admissions to the hospital,” she said, noting they will be treated in the community.

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The message they’ll be sharing is the nine-storey tower, estimated to cost $417 million, will expand the way health care is provided in the region. With 11 new operating rooms and space for another two in the future, it will expand that capacity — although Coleman noted the Vernon-Kelowna-Penticton part of Interior Health Authority, with a population of about 350,000, has 33 operating rooms. RIH now has 10 operating rooms — nine elective and one emergency. The new tower is not expected to be completed until 2022. The tower will also have child and adolescent mental-health services, including a pediatric psychiatry inpatient unit, maternal and child services including obstetrics and neonatal intensive care, a mental-health and substance-use inpatient unit with 30 single-occupancy rooms and another two floors with patient rooms. The ward model is eschewed for a plan Coleman described as “one bum per room, one bum per toilet,” which the health authority anticipates will reduce in-hospital infection rates. “No more six to a room,” Coleman said. “No more four to a room.”

Coleman and her group will also head south to the Lower Mainland to talk with people she believes should have an interest in RIH being the best hospital possible. That would include businesses with operations in the Thompson-Nicola area or that have employees who travel through or vacation in the region. “This may be their playground,” Coleman said, noting it is in the employers’ best interest to know there is a first-rate hospital ready to care for employees visiting the area. In order to provide that quality of care, the new tower will need specific equipment the $20 million will be used to supply. “I just know that we’re going to do it,” Coleman said. “The duct tape on the OR floors covering up cracks, that’s enough. We need this. We just need this tower.”

FROM FUNDRAISING TO FINE-TUNING VISITS By Dale Bass

In addition to fundraising, the Royal Inland Foundation is also what CEO Heidi Coleman calls the welcome wagon for Interior Health Authority as it works to recruit doctors. The person charged with that function for the authority lives in Kelowna and relies on the foundation to ensure those who visit Kamloops to check out the hospital, the city, the amenities and the reason to relocate here are looked after. That can mean anything from finding them a car to drive in the area to ensuring they have a place to stay and places to eat. The health authority pays a portion of the costs associated with a visit for an interview, but if a potential doctor wants to spend more time in the area, it’s up to the foundation to facilitate this. Coleman said she has good relations with auto dealers and hotel management in the city who will assist, but the action of one doctor gave a boost to the work. The specialist owns a downtown condominium, one she no longer lives in after buying a house. Rather than selling the condo, however, she gave Coleman the keys and told her to use it to house visiting doctors and their families. The doctor continues to pay the mortgage on the property. A local furniture company stepped up with all the furnishings 10 talk

MAY 2017

needed and, Coleman said, having that option is one more tool the foundation has to convince doctors to stay in Kamloops. The foundation works closely with the Thompson Region Division of Family Practice and, more recently, with local business owners. Coleman hopes to form a corporate committee from that new partnership that will increase ways to woo potential doctors. The hospital has seen some success attracting specialists; two who work in internal medicine are on their way, as are two more cardiologists, a specialty that has grown in recent months from two to four and, soon, to six. There’s a new anesthetist at the hospital and three new gastrointestinal surgeons, taking that specialty to five. Coleman said having more hospital specialists will attract more family physicians when they see they have the support they need. Adding to that support are the new clinics opening in the city. Coleman said having these new clinics will enhance the care patients receive because their doctors can refer them to something that exists in Kamloops, rather than sending them out on the road to another community where that service is provided. “We need to help our people here,” Coleman said.

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THREE BELIEFS THAT CRIPPLE ACCOUNTABILITY by Hamish Knox and John Glennon

olding your people accountable is simple. In working with sales leaders around the world, accountability isn’t easy because those leaders possess one of three selflimiting beliefs that cripple their accountability program. First, and most common, self-limiting belief is a need for approval. To paraphrase one of David Sandler’s rules, “leadership is not a place to get your emotional needs met.” A high need for approval cripples accountability in your organization because your mindset is that “accountability” equals “micromanagement.” With that mindset, you’ll allow your behaviour at weekly accountability meetings to slip when “something comes up” for you or your employees because you don’t want to “micromanage.” Often we find a leader’s need to be liked is greater than their need to succeed. So, if being liked is the priority, as opposed to leading their team to greater success, we find leaders will make “being liked” the priority each day versus holding their team accountable to achieving success. Properly implemented, accountability is the opposite of micromanagement. Because you and each of your direct reports agree in advance what your behaviour expectations of them are, when you hold your accountability meetings, there is no “mutual mystification.” When you have an accountability conversation with a direct report, you are merely holding up a mirror to show them they are the ones with imperfections because they didn’t keep their word. By focusing the conversation on your direct report instead of yourself, you can minimize your need for approval. Second self-limiting belief is fear of rejection. When you fear rejection, you’re unlikely to have the upfront conversations described above because you are conflict-averse. Your mindset with a fear of rejection is “we’re good,” which translates to “mediocre is OK.” Because you’re conflict-averse, you’re likely to have surface12 talk

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level accountability conversations. “How’s it going?” “OK.” “How can I help you?” “I’m good.” “Good meeting. Let’s get coffee.” Those types of conversations give your direct reports implicit approval to do what they think is best, regardless of whether it supports your organization. Fear of rejection has deep roots in our psyche. Pulling out those roots requires a lot of self-reflection. Journaling is a great tool for that, as is coaching and a mindset shift from accountability conversations being about “conflict” to being about “supporting” your direct reports. Third self-limiting belief is low self-worth. This belief typically manifests as enabling bad-fit employees by accepting excuses for their poor behaviour. For example, “I didn’t get my calls in this week, but I haven’t been feeling well.” “That’s OK. I know you tried hard.” Because you don’t value yourself, your mindset ends up in “why bother” land, as in “Why bother with accountability? It doesn’t make a difference.” Any attempts at holding your direct reports accountable are likely to be false starts that leave you unsatisfied, with a reinforced low self-worth belief, and your direct reports frustrated. Rising out of a low self-worth belief starts with you being accountable to yourself for a short period of time, typically two weeks to one month. During that time, set small, achievable goals you celebrate reaching, goals that build momentum to pull up your self-worth and give you the courage to hold others accountable. Holding your direct reports accountable is simple, but it’s terribly difficult if your beliefs cripple your mindset and behaviours before you start. Hamish Knox is a Sandler trainer in Calgary and John Glennon is a Sandler trainer in Kelowna. Find them online at sandler.com.

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ECONOMIC

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE

SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA LFS

CANADA

THOMPSON NICOLA REGION

61%

CANADA

SOURCE: STATISTICS CANADA LFS

BUSINESS LICENCES

185 129 BUSINESS LICENCES ISSUED (YTD)

61%

58%

7.6%

6.5%

5.4%

THOMPSON OKANAGAN

APRIL 2017

2016

8.6%

7.3%

2017

EMPLOYMENT RATE

RESIDENTIAL BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED (YTD)

COMMERCIAL BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED (YTD)

SOURCE: CITY OF KAMLOOPS

SPACE FOR LEASE Located in the heart of the North Shore at 750 Fortune Drive the Fortune Shopping Centre offers a variety of services along with ample parking in a high-profile area. With three main roads intersecting at the Centre, there are many potential customers passing by daily. Lease space available that is ideal for a Dr Office, health care facility, hair salon and many other services. The Fortune Shopping Centre is always looking for new businesses to join the community. STORE FRONT & OFFICE SPACE AVAILABLE NOW 14 talk

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INDICATORS AIRPORT PASSENGER VOLUMES 2016 RESIDENTIAL (YTD)

116,584

YTD TRAVELERS

COMMERCIAL (YTD)

MONTHLY TRAVELERS

CONSTRUCTION VALUE • APRIL

113,102

24,434

26,006

2017

BUILDING PERMITS 26,986,042

28,096,993

3,944,623

$3,832,016

2017 2016

SOURCE: CITY OF KAMLOOPS

SOURCE: KAMLOOPS AIRPORT AUTHORITY

AVERAGE RESIDENTIAL PRICE • APRIL

395,000

2016

2017

427,500

NUMBER OF HOUSING STARTS YTD • APRIL

REAL ESTATE

HOUSING CONSTRUCTION

SOURCE: CITY OF KAMLOOPS, STATISTICS CANADA

KAMLOOPS SOURCE: CITY OF KAMLOOPS

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BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARDS

COMING IN

OCTOBER Eric Davis, vice-president and portfolio manager with TD Wealth, announces that nominations are open during a presentation at the chamber’s downtown office.

he Kamloops Chamber of Commerce is accepting nominations for its 2017 Business Excellence Awards. A new award, the Inclusive Workplace Award, is up for grabs this year, sponsored by Open Door Group. The award is meant to recognize employers demonstrating inclusive hiring practices, a dedication to ongoing training and a focus on inclusive culture. The chamber awards, in their 31st year, are sponsored by TD. Seeking input, the chamber has formed a new committee that invites member input on business issues in the community.

The full list of awards and sponsors: • Business of the Year, sponsored by Community Futures • Business Person of the Year, sponsored by Excel Personnel • Young Entrepreneur of the Year, sponsored by Thompson Rivers University’s school of business and economics • Small Business of the Year, sponsored by KGHM’s Ajax project • Employer of the Year, sponsored by the Coast Kamloops Hotel and Conference Centre • Community Service Award, sponsored by the City of Kamloops • Manufacturer Award, sponsored by BDC

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The member advocacy committee merges the work previously done by three former committees, but will continue to represent the interests of the membership to government. They will continue to so through the development of official positions directed to the federal, provincial or municipal governments. As issues are identified, the new committee will form working groups from within the membership, with the intent of researching and writing position papers that provide clear and concise solutions to the various issues the membership is facing. For more information, call the chamber at 250-372-7722.

• Technology Innovator Award, sponsored by BCLC • Resource Industry Award, sponsored by Venture Kamloops • Tourism and Hospitality Award, sponsored by TRU’s faculty of adventure, culinary arts and tourism • Retailer Award (staff 10 and under), sponsored by Aberdeen Mall • Retailer Award (staff 11 and up), sponsored by Valley First Insurance • Service Provider Award (staff 10 and under), sponsored by Berwick on the Park • Service Provider Award (staff 11 and up), sponsored by Kamloops Ford Lincoln

•E nvironmental Stewardship Award, sponsored by Rocky Mountaineer • Project of the Year Award •N ot-for-profit of the Year Award, sponsored by United Way • I nclusive Workplace Award, sponsored by Open Door Group Nominations close on June 30, with an awards gala scheduled for Oct. 21. Finalists will be announced on Sept. 7. For more information, go online to kamloopschamber.ca.

MAY 2017 talk

TALKING BUSINESS at the

FARMERS’ MARKET By Jessica Wallace

t’s Judy May’s first year bringing her homemade Rainbow Moments soaps to the Kamloops Farmers’ Market. From her top-selling hempseed to unscented, the detergent-free cleansers come in bricks shaped like animals or embedded with designs. When Talk Business visited, May was handing out samples to entice the new market. “I normally do the Barriere market and the Clearwater market,” May said. “And then this year I thought I’d branch out into Kamloops because my business has been doing very well and I thought I’d expand into Kamloops.” May began making soap a few years ago as a retirement project, teaching herself after cashing out on a career in retail management. She worked in Barriere and Kamloops, including a short stint at the 7-Eleven on Sixth Avenue downtown, just blocks from where her soap stand now presides on Wednesdays.

PHOTO: DAVE EAGLES

“I’m a do-er and a mover,” May said. “I can’t sit, so it was just always something I was interested in. I thought I would start making it for my family as gifts and then my daughter-in-law at the time was making jewelry and selling it at the farmers’ market, so I gave her some soaps to sell. Lo and behold — boom — I was in business.” She expects to triple sales in Kamloops compared to those smaller markets, but when asked what would make her first year in Kamloops a success, May didn’t rattle off numbers. “Return customers,” she said. “Up in Clearwater, they call me the soap lady from Barriere.” Taking a stroll along the 400-block of Victoria Street on Wednesdays or up by the former Stuart Wood elementary on Saturdays can mean purchasing a loaf of bread, fresh vegetables or some nifty piece of homemade jewelry for locals. For the people behind the kiosks, it’s their livelihood.

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MAY 2017

Talk Business took a stroll through the market and caught up with some behind the many businesses that make up the Kamloops Farmers’ Market. If May is the soap lady, Emma Molina is the miniature pie lady. Molina owns Berry Sweet Garden Fresh Raspberries in Kamloops with her husband and has been a vendor at the Kamloops Farmers’ Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays for the better part of 15 years. She knows other vendors by name and also sells beans, plants, berries and veggies. Her charming miniature pies come by the bag, made at home with her own raspberries and strawberries. “The idea is that everything is fresh, comes from our garden,” she said. “No preservatives, nothing at all. That is the idea. Something fresh. We pick the fruit and we make the pies.” Molina’s business relies on the market and she said when the sun shines, the market is full. “Kamloops is a supportive community,” she said. “They support the farmers.” Asked where she would distribute her pies if not for the market, the answer is simple — she wouldn’t. “Just the farmers’ market,” Molina said. For others, the market is just one piece in a web of retail opportunities. Colin Proctor and wife Alexandra are behind an urban farm in Brocklehurst that primarily produces dried organic spices. Made with Love Delectable Edibles products are available at several markets around the province — Shuswap, Celista and North Vancouver, along with Kamloops — but also at Save-On Foods. “The spices worked for us,” Proctor said. “It sort of just fell into place.”

For him, the biggest advantage to selling goods at the market is meeting customers. “You develop a face for your business,” he said. “They recognize you. They recognize your product.” That face time has also drawn the Brown family over the last decade from Barriere. When Talk Business visited, Allen Brown was stepping in to help mom Donna-Kay sell vegetables grown at their family operation, Watersmeet Farm. “I’m not a farmer,” Allen said. “I have so many kids, but nobody wants to take over the farm,” Donna-Kay added. While many would like to see the market stay open later, the days are long enough for vendors like the Browns. “We have to leave at 6 o’clock in the morning and we’re here until 2 and it takes an hour to take everything down and another hour home,” she said. “So it’s long, long.” It’s worth the drive, however, because when it comes to their asparagus, lettuce, herbs and spinach, they usually sell out. Anything green and fresh goes fast

“ Kamloops is a supportive community. They support the farmers.”

HOURS OF OPERATION: Saturdays | 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Runs through to Oct. 28 200-block of St. Paul Street and in the schoolyard of the former Stuart Wood elementary. Wednesdays | 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Runs through to Oct.25 400-block of Victoria Street, outside the TNRD Building that houses the public library and Kamloops Art Gallery.

It’s your money and our reputation. We take both seriously.

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TD Wealth Private Investment Advice T: 250 314 5124 | 1 866 377 1511 eric.davis@td.com | keith.davis@td.com daviswealth.ca

Davis Wealth Management Team consists of Eric Davis, Vice President, Portfolio Manager & Investment Advisor and Keith Davis, Investment Advisor. Davis Wealth Management Team is part of TD Wealth Private Investment Advice, a division of TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. is a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. – Member of the Canadian Investor Protection Fund. ® The TD logo and other trade-marks are the property of The Toronto-Dominion Bank. 17022873MC MAY 2017 talk

TASTE

THE NEW

OF KAMLOOPS IS

LOCAL By Adam Williams

PHOTO: DAVE EAGLES

rody White travelled the world as a chef. But in the end, he chose Kamloops to call home. The owner and operator of Spruce Goose & Chop N Block, White is a chef by trade and graduated from Thompson Rivers University’s Culinary Arts School in 2004. After apprenticing under Chef Scott Jaeger of The Pear Tree Restaurant in Burnaby, White received his Red Seal certification. It was after serving as Jaeger’s commis (apprentice) in the famed Bocuse d’Or culinary competition in Lyon, France, that White began to see the world with his cooking. He lived and worked in Paris at L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. He became the executive chef at the Burgundy Wine Bar in Beirut, Lebanon. But Kamloops called him back. White met his wife, Heather Nicklas, in the city and, in 2014, the two purchased the Aberdeen butcher shop that has been in operation since 1999. “I was ready for something different,” White said of making the transition to the Chop N Block. Stepping away from the kitchen into a workplace with predictable hours and a regular schedule was a must for White. It allowed him to be home by suppertime, to fish and hunt and to raise his son, Tristan. Kamloops was the right place. “Business is good,” White said. “We’re not making millions, but we’re open every day. We’re employing more and more people.” Though he is no longer in the kitchen, White has brought the creativity of a chef to his exploits

at Spruce Goose & Chop N Block. The business in 2017 is hardly the same one he took over in 2014. White has eschewed pre-made deli products for those he now makes in-house. He installed a sausage kitchen and has entered the realm of whole-animal butchery. He works with carcass beef, ages his own meat in store and is creating with fermented, dried and cured meats. “Now we can honestly say it’s apples to oranges compared to the big-box retailers,” White said of his products. “You’ve got to make yourself stand out a bit.” White’s long-term vision for his company is one that has fit well with the agriculture industry and culinary tastes in Kamloops. Ninety per cent of his store’s beef is local and, as the only shop in Kamloops that is doing both whole animal butchery and has a sausage kitchen, he has created a niche for himself in the River City. Spruce Goose & Chop N Block’s products can be found across the city, at Nu Leaf Produce Market and Fratelli Foods and on plates at Monte Creek Ranch Winery, Terra Restaurant and Red Collar Brewing Company. Kamloops is undergoing a real shift, White said, one in which residents are starting to value local food, knowing where their meat comes from and who cuts it. Seventy-five per cent of his clientele are people White sees twice a week. “We’re just starting to really embrace it,” he said of Kamloops. “We’re just starting to taste where we are, rather than the exotic.”

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MAY 2017

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Protect yourself against

ID theft A

nyone who has had their home broken into or been the victim of identity theft understands just how unsettling it can be to have their privacy invaded. To think that a stranger has rooted through your stuff may be even more upsetting than losing the stolen items. Data from various sources, including the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, points to identity theft as one of the fastestgrowing crimes in Canada and the United States. Approximately 17-million people have their identities used fraudulently each year, with financial losses totalling upwards of $50 billion. Perhaps due to the prevalence of web-based accounts and transactions, as well as reliance on digital services, identity fraud and other types of theft have increased in frequency. According to a 2013 report from Javelin Strategy & Research, an incident of identity fraud occurs every three seconds. Just about any individual or business is vulnerable to an identity/data attack. It’s crucial that individuals and businesses take steps to protect themselves from identity theft and other forms of theft.

Use only secured Wi-Fi networks

Avoid sharing personal information when using unsecured networks, such as those available at restaurants or coffee shops. It’s easy for someone to hack into your accounts when they don’t have to go through firewalls and other security features. • Managed Services • Business Continuity • Disaster Recovery • Cloud Services • Proactive Response • 24x7 Monitoring • Network Security • IT Consulting • Help Desk

Limit sharing on social media

Many people have no qualms about posting personal data via socialnetworking sites, even though they aren’t taking the precautions necessary to keep that information safe. Always keep your privacy settings at the highest level and never share sensitive personal information, such as your birth date, address or financial information.

Invest in security software

Invest in or upgrade your spyware and security applications. In addition, install any security updates authorized by your operating system or the apps you use.

Create strong passwords

Skip those easy passwords that just about anyone who knows a little about you can guess. Instead, choose complex passwords that feature a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. Many passwords are case sensitive, so use a combination of uppercase and lowercase letters.

Exercise caution with email

Opening emails or clicking on attachments and links could initiate spyware and doing so may even infect your computer with a virus. Also, don’t be fooled by emails requesting personal information. Such messages are typically sent by fraudulent people masquerading as legitimate businesses, such as credit-card companies looking to “verify” account information.

Keep personal belongings out of sight

Be mindful of personal items and information at all times. Shred mail that contains account numbers and store checks and bank account paperwork and files where they can’t be seen. Avoid logging on to personal accounts in public and when your sensitive information might be visible to others. Theft can be scary. Any time personal belongings or information is stolen, it can make a person feel violated. Start taking steps to better safeguard your personal data.

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FISHING VS

FARMING Y

Karen Watt is CPC/CPO for Excel Personnel and is located in Kamloops.

ou need people, but you’re not a major company with hundreds or thousands of employees. Maybe you don’t have a dedicated Human Resources person let alone an entire department at your beck and call. Or, alternately, maybe you do have an HR person, but that person is handling the day to day back office duties of your business and doesn’t have the time or maybe the expertise to source candidates for you. So what are your options? Do you keep with the status quo, or is it timely or affordable to consider engaging an agency to support the growing requirements of your business? How do you find out? You ask. A quick google search will help you find your local options as a local agency is generally more tied into the local/ regional talent pool, trends and movement in the communities they work in. Now not every business has a need for agency recruitment and for those that do, do not need it every time they want to hire. Chances are you have your own network to pull from and know the players in your industry and/or community better than anyone, and as you’ve grown your business, you’ve leaned on that network. But sooner or later, every business gets to a point where it has exhausted the low lying fruit and the hunt for talent has become tiresome or beyond their field of expertise. This is the time to consider whether an outside partner can help you get that next great addition to your team. What sets the Recruiting Agency apart from what you are doing, or have been doing, is that we aren’t bound by what you’ve done in the past, only what you’re doing now and in the future. Generally, we’re specialized in sourcing talent just as you’re 22 talk

MAY 2017

specialized in providing the services you do. Think about it like purchasing a television. If you’re truly passionate about technology, you will do the research. You will source out the best brands, the retailers that carry them, the trends in the technology, all to give you the best return on investment. You do that because you enjoy it and it’s something you’re passionate about. Sourcing talent is the same. If you (or your HR) truly enjoy sourcing talent, it’s something that comes naturally and is part of what you, or they, enjoy about the job. But if you’re not passionate about it, or if you’re not adept at delving into hidden talent networks, sourcing and cold-calling candidates, it quickly becomes a frustrating exercise and ends up in what we refer to as “Post and Pray”. Post and Pray is a term we use when posting a position and waiting for the talent to find the opportunity. Consider it like fishing, and while fishing has its place it’s not the end-all and be-all of recruiting talent. Fishing is part of a larger equation and not always a great way to guarantee your dinner. When you post your opportunity online or in any myriad of publications, you are essentially fishing and there is a difference between fishing and what I like to call “farming”. Farming is not fishing. Farming is a long term investment and requires countless hours of effort and maintenance. In Farming, you prepare the soil. You plant the seed. You monitor and feed the land to ensure that seed germinates. You coddle and cajole that little sprout until it’s big and strong and then you harvest it. So agency recruiters are essentially farmers. We spend our time getting to know our candidates. We learn what makes them tick, what they need from a fitment standpoint. We learn what motivates them and what special considerations they have at home. And when we come across that client that has a specific need, we have a candidate that can fill that need from a professional and personal standpoint. Now this isn’t to suggest that the agency “farm” is always ready to be harvested and anybody who tells you otherwise is… well…fibbing. Every field is different and so is every crop, which is to say your requirements are different than your competitions requirements, and your place in the world is built around what you have created. Because of this, the chances are that you’ve created your professional world in your own special way and in order to feed that, the agency needs to ensure it has planted and grown the appropriate crop, and that’s not always the case. In fact, the field may need to be replanted, or the soil may need to be fertilized with more potent or diverse well...fertilizer. The recruiter (or farmer) may have to get back to planting, but thankfully, the recruiter (or farmer) is generally an expert at tilling the soil. To summarize: You are a consumer of people. People are vegetables. Vegetables help you grow big and strong. Recruiters are farmers. Fishing is fun, but not a great way to get fed. To get back to the original question of when to engage an agency? Sooner is better. The initial conversation doesn’t cost you anything and will give you the information to know, one way or another, whether or not bringing in a 3rd party is the right choice for you. So make the call or send the email and set about having a conversation. Think about any farmer you’ve ever met… they love to talk about farming, don’t they? Recruiters are no different, we love to talk about recruitment. So take advantage of the tools you have at hand and be wise in the use of your resources and you’ll be better equipped to handle the growing requirements of your business. Geoff Simpson is the Excel Personnel Business Development/ Recruitment Consultant in Prince George, BC and Karen Watt is the CPC/CPO for Excel Personnel and is located in Kamloops, BC.

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